Groupon iPad Payment App Pulled After Accidental Release

Earlier today Groupon POS, a mobile payment app for merchants using iPads as point of sale systems, was released on iTunes, but the app has since been pulled from the app store.

"The version in the app store was in pre-production and was inadvertently released this morning," says Nicholas Halliwell, a Groupon spokesman. "It has subsequently been pulled."

The iPad app looked like a less sophisticated version of Breadcrumb, according to the tech news site Engadget. Groupon acquired Breadcrumb, an iPad point of sale system, in May, allowing merchants to process and track customer payments.

The Breadcrumb acquisition and the future release of the merchant iPad app is another step in Groupon's bigger payments strategy to compete with Square Inc. and other mobile payments processors. Groupon began offering a portable card reader in September.